Do We Need to Be Afraid of Healthcare Chatbots?

While the increasing automation in every sector of life is providing convenience to humans, it is, however not coming without any threat. Especially with the advent of Artificial Intelligence technology, people are raising concerns more frequently. However, every novel idea and technology has some downside to it but it does not mean that its potential benefits cannot outweigh the risks.

AI Healthcare Chatbots are going through a similar situation. The idea of deploying chatbots for the sake of managing public healthcare is not new. However, its implementation is quite recent. The majority of AI healthcare chatbots are still going through a trial process while the ones who have passed this phase are being deployed at a limited scale. The precautions are necessary to make the chatbots foolproof as well as without any substantial threat.

This article will analyze the need and potential benefits of healthcare chatbots and it will compare them with some associated risks to determine whether we need to worry about healthcare chatbots or not.

What Exactly Are Healthcare Chatbots?

The idea of healthcare chatbots to determine the patient triage and provide general medical advice to users is not new. As the burden on the healthcare sector increased with time, so does the need for automation. Other sectors like commerce, business management, education, and various other sectors have already implemented AI technology to decrease the burden while the healthcare sector has remained reluctant to rely on automation due to some basic concerns. Those concerns cannot be discarded as its all about human health in the end. So, it is important to make the process of automation foolproof first and then make it available for public use. As it is quite clear that the healthcare sector is facing a shortage of human resources, so the burden needs to be shared or else drastic steps are inevitable to provide the optimum healthcare experience to people. The former is a more suitable option as the AI technology is already in place for other sectors then why not implement it in the healthcare sector?

Need for Chatbots

In normal instances, patients need to go to the ER at the onset of any disease, or else they need to make an appointment with their GP. People find it inconvenient to go to the ER even for minor symptoms while they have to wait for weeks to visit a GP after an appointment. The introduction of chatbots or automated software became inevitable as patients could just sit at home and feed their data including symptoms and they would receive the guidance in no time. Automated technology would tell people the level of urgency in their problem that whether they need to visit the healthcare center immediately or they just need minor advice with basic prescription of medicine that could have been provided by automated technology. Mostly, patients used to search for their symptoms online on Google but this concept was flawed as the available information on Google cannot be considered authentic and patients only get confused by this way.

Benefits of Healthcare Chatbots

Here comes the concept of AI-based healthcare chatbots. Chatbots are basically mobile apps or software that collect the data from the patient and communicate just like a doctor. Basically, they mimic the concept of a doctor. This interaction provides an optimum experience for patients. Chatbots can contribute to public healthcare at the following levels:

• Patient Triage: Upon entering the symptoms and answering a series of questions, patients would receive the primary diagnosis which would help them in determining the urgency of their situation. If patients need to visit the hospital immediately then they would be told.
• Basic Medical Care: Chatbots can share the burden of GP by making a diagnosis for patients on the basis of their symptoms and other information. Chatbots can even prescribe the basic medicine for minor conditions. This is especially helpful for patients who do not find time to visit the GP.
• Healthcare Monitor: Many patients fail to completely abide by the advice of a doctor with regards to changing their lifestyle. A chatbot can monitor the situation of the patient upon the recommendation of the doctor. When patients would know that they need to feed the data in a chatbot then they would act upon the advice of a doctor.
• Healthcare System Management: Chatbots can also be used to manage appointments with doctors and to sort out a priority list on the basis of their condition. Like the patients who need immediate attention would automatically jump the queue. This process would also substitute the need for a manual management system.

Risks

As much as the deployment of chatbots is promising, there are some major risks associated with them that are preventing people to trust them completely.

• Worthiness: A major objection to using healthcare chatbots is their worthiness. Most of the patients still prefer to visit the doctor as they just cannot trust any bot with their condition. This objection is quite understandable as the ability to understand nuance and some peculiar medical conditions only lie with human doctors. Technology cannot go deep into such insights.
• Reliability: Authentic diagnosis, correct prescription, and perfect triage would always remain the issues with chatbots. It is important to get chatbots approved by concerned higher authorities so that people can believe in the reliability of AI technology. Chatbots also need to be updated regularly, so no lag could happen.
• Privacy Issues: Sharing personal information with chatbots would not be easy for many patients as the misuse of data has always remained a major concern. It is important to build trust with patients by forming strict data regulation and parent firms should ensure that no data hacks could occur.

Final Verdict

Despite all the associated risks, chatbots still present a silver lining for the current healthcare system. Even the risks can be mitigated by forming proper data regulation policies and only approving those chatbots which contain the updated information and provide the correct diagnosis as well as a flawless prescription. Technology always has some downsides but still, we use it for most of the aspects of our lives. Then why not use it for our healthcare? Furthermore, the advanced treatment would always be provided by doctors as chatbots would recommend the hospital visit according to the gravity of the condition. So, there is not much to worry about. Moreover, the experience would only improve with time.